Gun Prohibitionists Ramp Up Washington State Efforts

Florida high schooler Kyle Kashuv spoke at the weekend Gun Rights Policy Conference, and was awarded as the Gun Rights Defender of the Year by Alan Gottlieb. (Dave Workman)

Gun prohibitionists behind Initiative 1639 in Washington State have apparently come clean with the Seattle Times, as that newspaper reported over the weekend that if the 30-page measure passes, “Washington’s firearms laws would be among the strictest in the country.”

Perhaps by no coincidence, a new group has popped out of the woodwork that calls itself “End The NRA.” People may donate to this movement via something called “ActBlue,” which also is a fund-raising group that supports Democrat candidates. ActBlue has appeared prominently on the Federal Elections Commission reports of at least one Democrat congressional candidate in Washington State.

The National Rifle Association announced last week, and it was confirmed Monday, that it has joined forces with the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and Washington Arms Collectors to fight I-1639. NRA has contributed some $150,000 to the campaign to defeat the measure. Another group, according to the newspaper story, is SaveOurSecurity.org, which has raised slightly more than $24,000.

Meanwhile, the I-1639 campaign has raised more than $4 million, which means they have already outraised and outspent the rights activists by more than 20-to-1. Yet, they have sent out emails complaining about the “big money” that the so-called “gun lobby” has pumped into the effort to stop their ballot measure.

The Seattle Times report about the initiative campaign has already received hundreds of reactions from readers. Guns are a hot topic; some might say toxic.

That much was evident at the weekend’s Gun Rights Policy Conference in Chicago. Some 800 pro-rights activists attended to hear panels on state and federal legislative affairs, discuss the coming midterm elections, and those attending the annual awards luncheon heard an impressive presentation from teen Kyle Kashuv, a survivor of the Feb. 14 Parkland, Florida high school shooting in which 17 students and adults were murdered by a former student who, according to published reports, had been barred from the campus. Local law enforcement knew who he was and had been to his home more than once.

Unlike some other teens who were on campus during the shooting, Kashuv has not turned his experience into professional victimhood.

The conference, for the first time, reached far beyond the walls of the hotel. According to Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation, the conference was viewed, at least in part, by more than 115,000 people who visited the SAF Facebook page to watch the live stream coverage. And they all heard about the situation in Washington State.

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About Dave Workman

Dave Workman is an award-winning career journalist with an expertise in firearms and the outdoors. He is the author of several books dealing with firearms politics. He has a degree in editorial journalism from the University of Washington and is a lifelong Washington resident.